Catcher has been an effective wasteland in fantasy baseball, not just this season but in the past few. To illustrate, while Salvador Perez checks in as an excellent No. 30 overall on our Player Rater, but the next-best catcher, Will Smith, ranks only 148th, and only four backstops place within even the top 260 overall.
It's a position where streaming is a viable strategy, and in some cases, teams leave the lineup spot open when there's no strong choice on a given day. Silly as that might sound, remember that the catcher position is batting .228 on the whole this season, second-lowest of any of the 10 lineup spots (counting designated hitter) ahead of only pitchers' collective .109 mark. A catcher can drag your team's batting average down, or cost negative fantasy points to your team, as catchers' collective 25.3% strikeout rate is the worst at any position but pitcher (44.2%) and DH (26.0%).
Fret not, however, as there are a pair of National League East catcher-eligibles who might be able to help fill that tough lineup spot for the rest of the year. They're among Monday's top recommended pickups.